Patrol boat PT 109

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Movie
German title Patrol boat PT 109
Original title PT 109
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1963
length 140 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Leslie H. Martinson
script Richard L. Breen
Vincent X. Flaherty
Howard Sheehan
production Bryan Foy
music David Buttolph
William Lava
camera Robert Surtees
cut Folmar Blangsted
occupation

Patrol boat PT 109 is an American film from 1963, the autobiographical account of the experiences of John F. Kennedy as commander of the speedboat PT 109 during World War II . The adapted screenplay by Vincent Flaherty and Howard Sheehan is based on the book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in WWII by the author Robert J. Donovan.

In addition to those officially named in the credits, Andrew Duggan as the narrator and George Takei as the helmsman of a Japanese destroyer also took part. The latter would later become known worldwide as Sulu in Star Trek . The location for the film was Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys .

action

To the astonishment of his superior Commander C. R. Ritchie, the young naval officer ( Lieutenant Junior Grade ) John F. Kennedy uses the influence of his family to transport himself to the disputed Solomon Islands . There he gathers a team - including Leonard J. Thom, "Bucky" Harris and Edmund Drewitch - with whom he succeeds in repairing the damaged PT 109 speedboat .

In a mission, PT 109 is sent to evacuate paratroopers who have been cut off on an island. Kennedy manages to take the men on board, but is barely out of range of the Japanese weapons when his boat runs out of fuel. The current threatens to slowly drive PT 109 back to the island when another speedboat appears to help Kennedy and his crew to successfully complete the mission.

Another mission is less fortunate. On a pitch dark night there is a collision with a Japanese destroyer , in which the speedboat breaks in two and two crew members perish. Kennedy manages to save himself to an island with the survivors. After a few days you discover some natives there, whom you can give a message carved on a coconut, which finally reaches a coastal observer in Australia. This succeeds in initiating the necessary rescue operation for the crew. After the PT 109 crew was rescued, Kennedy decides, despite the possibility of returning home, to remain on the front lines.

background

Relationship to the original

In the film, PT 109 is reported missing and a search begins. According to National Geographic and the original book, however, the boat had been written off as a loss after several other speedboats had observed an explosion. There was already a funeral service on the base on Rendova , while the crew was actually stuck on an island behind enemy lines.

The islanders Biuki Gasa and Eroni Kumana, who are portrayed as natives in the film, were actually sent by the coastal observer Arthur Evans. By the way, the film keeps to the original book that it was Kennedy who had the idea of ​​carving a message into the coconut. Gasa, however, said later in an interview that it was his suggestion.

The scene of the rescue of the Marines depicted in the film takes place in the book in the chapter about PT 59 - the boat that Kennedy commanded after PT 109.

White House influence

The White House and President Kennedy were involved throughout the making of the film. Peter Fonda , Edd Byrnes ( Jacqueline Kennedy's choice), Warren Beatty and Jeffrey Hunter were among the possible leading actors to choose from for the main role . Kennedy finally picked Cliff Robertson after seeing the screen tests.

It was also the President who spoke out against Raoul Walsh as a director after seeing his Marines Let's Go and not liking it.

literature

  • Robert J. Donovan: PT 109: John F. Kennedy In World War II. McGraw-Hill, New York 1961.
  • Robert J. Donovan: Kennedy on PT 109. The war experience of the murdered American president . Lichtenberg Verlag, Munich 1964.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lights, Camera, Exploitation - Page 2. Village Voice News
  2. ↑ No laughing matter: Vaugh Meader, the Kennedy administration, and presidential impersonations on radio. ( Memento of April 17, 2008 on the Internet Archive ) Find Articles: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television